Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Once upon a time; a fairy tale.

Once upon a time,

The customer was king and always right—they were not treated universally as the lowest common denominator.

When you called a phone number for customer assistance, you’d reach someone in this country, possibly in your own time zone, and they did not just read you policy and explain at length how they are not going to help you. They usually had a decent command of English, and were polite on the phone.

Companies treated people like their patronage was the reason the company existed, and not like customers have no other choice but to take what they are given and to suck it up if they aren’t happy.

Companies competed for customers, and were not handed entire markets to exploit.

Customer service was not a huge book titled: Policy. Individuals still mattered.

Small businesses were integral to communities, and we kept our wealth local instead of sending it to China.

Businesses hired adults who knew how to treat others, and not teenagers who care nothing about the customer or the business.

Once upon a time,

Airlines served cooked meals on actual plates with actual silverware. They gave passengers eye-masks, slipper socks, and beverages and movies were included with the airfare.

Airlines gave kids activity kits and real metal wings.

Airlines did not charge to check baggage, or ask costumers with long legs to pay extra for legroom.

Seats on airplanes were wider, and more commodious; and were not made so narrow so the airline could cram in another row of passengers.

Airlines did not assume everyone who came aboard was a terrorist and treat them all as such.

Flight attendants were fresh and kind, and not overworked and catty.

Once upon a time,

People had manners and said please and thank you, and taught their children to do so as well.

There were expectations on children, they had responsibilities and did not spend all day in front of a game console, on the internet or texting banalities to their friends.

Parenting still existed, accountability and discipline was not something that parents dumped on the teachers and caregivers, but was something parents actually took responsibility for. They understood that they were the ones that brought the offspring into the world and they had a responsibility to prepare their offspring to live in it as conscientious citizens.

You could go to a family restaurant and not hear screams and squeals of unruly children, and sit and dine without children running wildly around you.

Parents wanted their children to do better than they did, so they sacrificed a great deal so their kids would reach greater heights—instead of living selfishly for themselves and having children and besetting them on the world unprepared.

People prepared their children for the real world, and introduced them to disappointment and hardship—they did not give their children whatever they want, and praise them for everything, and teach them to have unrealistic expectations of life when they finally venture out on their own; creating burdens for others to carry and maintain.

Children were taught a work ethic that would propel them forward in life.

Once upon a time,

Seemingly educated people could spell.

They wrote letters.

They read books.

Doctors weren’t so overwhelmed with patients that they bothered to know their patients’ names, and recall their health issues.

Doctors took the time to talk to patients and hear their concerns.

Elders were treated with respect and deference, not treated like an inconvenience.

Once upon a time,

People were grateful.

People did not hide behind faith and use it to justify questionable behaviour.

People were not self-absorbed and uninterested in the welfare of others.

They stood up for what was right.

They did not always take the easy route.

They did not sacrifice integral things for the sake of convenience.

They had standards.

They understood the concept of common consideration and courtesy.

People did not believe that they were entitled to things, but that they had to earn them.

People understood that to be truly respected, one must earn it.

People knew that they lived in a community, and that with personal responsibility comes with social responsibility, and they did not live only to please themselves alone.

My first office special in a while. She actually
took a series of sessions to complete, due to
many interruptions.

I confess I'm a failure at cards and thank you notes. I never sent them out after our wedding, seriously, and I have a real issue with greeting cards; I think they're complete BS... Mostly because they are wasteful and serve no purpose except to uselessly express feelings that could just as easily be expressed with words and a hug. Why employ paper-mills to chug and gush pollutants in the air, using tree pulp that could have happily remained living in a tree just for that? doesn't make sense.

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Just what *is* a Hungarican?

Hung-gə-reé-ken: A person who is born to a Hungarian parent and a Puerto Rican parent. It's a particularly potent, fiery mix that often produces less-than-sane offspring. It's probably because the child is raised believing his/her parents are Dracula and Charo.

The Hungarican Chick

A little about the Hungarican Chick

This particular Hungarican Chick is an artist, a writer, a mummy, a wife and property of two Jack Russell Terriers and a supposedly feral cat that likes to hairy up her dining room chairs.

Born in Colorado, raised in Belgium, a fleeting New Englander now living in Oregon, the Hungarican Chick has very shallow roots and seeks to dig them in somewhere. She speaks four languages, sings loudly in the car while driving, and thinks baby animals are the cure for all bad things.

Hungarican Chick is obsessed with the Regency period, Jane Austen, crafts, English sidesaddle and riding, making period costumes, writing, drawing 'potteresque' animals in bonnets, and gardening. She lives near Mount Hood in Oregon. She is a published author, a book reviewer and even dabbles in small-press publishing.

The Hungarican Chick is also the founder of the Oregon Regency Society; a reenactment group in the Pacific Northwest; focusing on the period between 1790 to 1820. She also founded the Regency Society of America, and helped new groups in other states get off the ground.

After eight years of struggling with fertility issues, being declined for adoption, and finally giving up, the Hungarican Chick is now mother to a little boy, born 11-17-12.